Motorola Minitor Pagers

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MadSpleen85

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Shawnee, Kansas
Like my title says, I have been looking at adding a Minitor pager to my working collection. I know next to nothing about these so I am still doing my research before I buy anything. My main need for one would be to monitor Johnson County, Kansas.

I am assuming that the range is not the greatest on these being there is not an external antenna? Ideally I would like to be able to monitor Douglas County Fire from the North Central area of Johnson County. If that is not possible that is not a deal breaker for me.

Programming these seems to be something better left to someone that knows what they are doing. There seem to be a few dealers on Ebay that deal with new, used and refurbished Minitors and also offer free programming when you buy from them and know what you are wanting to hear. I am leaning towards used or refurbished simply due to cost.

Figured I would ask here and see if anyone has any experience with these, what they would recommend for Johnson County.

Just looking for a more discreet way of monitoring. Don't want to miss 'The Big One' while I am sleeping or somewhere that a scanner would be inappropriate.

Also any links to reliable websites about these would be helpful as well, since I am just starting to seriously look. Thanks in advance.
 

dgruver911

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Jun 4, 2004
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Newton, KS
Just keep in mind the upcoming narrowbanding of all VHF and UHF channels. Minitor I, II, III and IV's are NOT narrowband capable, only the V's are so don't waste money on an older Minitor that will soon be useless. And unlike Motorola radio programming, I've seen the programming cradle and software readily available on ebay. And of course you'll have too find someone willing to give you the tones for whichever stations you want to monitor.
 

thagewood

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KS
I am assuming that the range is not the greatest on these being there is not an external antenna?
Motorola Minitor - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Amplified base unit - An optional "Charger/Amplifier" base can be bought. Bigger than the standard charging stand, the "Charger/Amplifier" base not only charges the pager, but has an external antenna for increased reception, an amplified audio out jack to drive a stand-alone speaker, and some models even incorporate a relay to activate external devices along with the pager. Some uses for this relay include: Turning on lights in a building such as a fire station, activating an external audio/visual alarm, etc

Also any links to reliable websites about these would be helpful as well, since I am just starting to seriously look. Thanks in advance.
.Motorola Minitor V Pager VHF - RadioReference Classifieds
http://forums.radioreference.com/motorola-forum/117032-motorola-minitor-v.html
http://www.motorola.com/governmenta...NonXMLDocs/Minitor V Combo Brochure FINAL.pdf
Minitor I/II/III/IV
Minitor V Amplified Charger - New Post Recall Problem? [Archive] - Firehouse Forums - Firefighting Discussion

Just a bit of Info that I ran across not for sure how reliable since I am not Familiar with the Motorola Minitor Pagers, seams to be interesting. Hope this is helpful to get you started. Sorry for the long post good luck.
 

mgolden2

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Heres a link to the programming software, under the Support tab

http://www.motorola.com/business/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=31d7ad5451326110VgnVCM1000008406b00aRCRD&vgnextchannel=7846ad5451326110VgnVCM1000008406b00aRCRD
 

MadSpleen85

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Shawnee, Kansas
Just keep in mind the upcoming narrowbanding of all VHF and UHF channels. Minitor I, II, III and IV's are NOT narrowband capable, only the V's are so don't waste money on an older Minitor that will soon be useless. And unlike Motorola radio programming, I've seen the programming cradle and software readily available on ebay. And of course you'll have too find someone willing to give you the tones for whichever stations you want to monitor.

That was honestly the first thing that I took into consideration when I started researching, the upcoming narrowbanding.

My biggest concern is finding someone that is willing to and has access to the tones information. If anyone knows someone let me know, PM me if you don't want to put it out for all to see.

With Christmas just passing, I have the funds secured, just need to make sure I have the information for programming one or it is just a very expensive paper weight.
 

emt603

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Marceline, Missouri
Let me know what Frequency you are monitoring them on and i will check it with the database that i have to see if we have the tones they are using.
 

rankin39

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Sep 12, 2004
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Location
Western Leavenworth Co., KS
Douglas Co. runs pretty high power from the top of the water tower near Univ. drive and Iowa on top of "Mt. Oread". You should be able to hear them just fine in N. JoCo. 154.400 city fire/ems and 155.805 county fire/ems. Sooner or later they'll probably join the trunked system, but not yet.

Bob, WoNXN
 

MadSpleen85

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Shawnee, Kansas
Let me know what Frequency you are monitoring them on and i will check it with the database that i have to see if we have the tones they are using.

Sent you a PM.

Douglas Co. runs pretty high power from the top of the water tower near Univ. drive and Iowa on top of "Mt. Oread". You should be able to hear them just fine in N. JoCo. 154.400 city fire/ems and 155.805 county fire/ems. Sooner or later they'll probably join the trunked system, but not yet.

Bob, WoNXN

According to Google Earth, as the crow flies (straight line, no hills between). From that water tower to my house is just under 28 miles. I am unable to monitor Douglas County PD/SO with my scanners, unless the weather conditions are just so. I can get Douglas County Fire/Medical loud and clear with a rooftop antenna. Scratchy but readable with the stock antenna on my radio shack scanners.
 

MadSpleen85

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Sep 18, 2008
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Shawnee, Kansas
Does not seem many have the details that I am looking for or they do and simply are not willing to share anything with me. Have heard from one person who does have some tones that I might need. That person also informed me that Johnson County is looking at moving away from using Minitor Pagers all together. According to this person,

"Time frame depends on how fast they can find a reliable and economical way of alerting people especially volunteers."

I am not familiar with what other options there are out there for notifying both paid and volunteer personnel. So at this point, my search for information is not over, still interested, just being a little more cautious before spending a lot of money on something that may only be functional.
 
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